


Distant Shores

by Sci-fi-hero (FireGriffin)



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gen, bonding over missing home, fiddauthor mention, lapidot mention, lapis leaving earth with the barn, portal ford, the moon base
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-16 00:53:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19307320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGriffin/pseuds/Sci-fi-hero
Summary: Lapis stopped at the moon (just for a second, she told herself), and found a man lying half-dead on the floor of the moon base. Although neither of them feels much like talking, they end up in a conversation. He's been lost in space for decades. She's just starting her journey away from Earth. And both of them miss home.





	Distant Shores

Lapis might have been scared on multiple occasions, but this time she was  _ right _ to be terrified. The diamonds were coming -- Steven had seen it in one of his dream visions -- and she wasn’t running  _ away _ this time. This time, she was running  _ towards _ freedom. If the rest of them wanted to stay and fight, that was fine by her, but she wasn’t about to be trapped or- or shattered by the diamond authority when they showed up on Earth to finally destroy their failure of a planet.

 

So Lapis ran, the barn trailing behind her on a cascade of water. She ran until the Earth looked like nothing but a small blue marble, glistening in the inky black void. She could see so much from this vantage point -- galaxies, nebula, even the moon.

 

Lapis frowned. The moon was so close compared to everywhere else. Where was she even going? She knew about the nearest planets in this star system, like Mars and Mercury, but she didn’t know what direction they were in. Maybe... maybe she could stop at the Moon for a moment while she got her bearings. Maybe there was a map of this star system inside the moon base. Maybe she could set down the barn, just for a second.

 

Lapis scanned the space all around herself. No sign of the ships. Not that she’d have much warning when they  _ did _ arrive, but-- 

 

She sighed. There was no turning back now. Being lost in outer space would be almost worse than being attacked by the diamond authority. She had to stop on the moon, just for a minute. Like every other time in her miserable life, she had no choice.

 

The moon was quite a bit further away than it looked. By the time she reached it, Lapis had no idea how long she’d been traveling. Not that it mattered. Days didn’t exist without the Earth beneath your feet, anyway. It was all meaningless.

 

Lapis stopped. No, it wasn’t  _ all  _ meaningless.There was Peridot, for one thing, and Steven, for another. She wanted them to be okay. But she couldn’t think about them -- not when they could be dead any day now. She couldn’t bear to think about any of that.

 

As she approached the moon, Lapis carried the barn to a spot near the entrance of the moon base.  _ Just for a second, _ she reminded herself as the barn drifted to the ground and she let the water float freely around it.

 

The interior of the moonbase was as dark as it was creepy. She could see faint outlines of the diamond authority towering around her, both as paintings on the wall and as nightmarish tricks of the light. It was cold in here -- not that she minded. She wouldn’t have even noticed if it weren’t for hanging around with humans so much, who  _ did _ need to keep track of even the slightest shifts in temperature around them.

 

Lapis smiled briefly, remembering the time Greg had started shivering all over when she pranked him with a lakeful of water over the head. She’d had no idea why he was shivering back then. For a second, she’d been worried he was going to die, because humans were so  _ fragile _ .

 

Not like her. She could survive for millions of years, even if she was half-shattered and wedged into the back of a fucking mirror. What a shame that she didn’t have a short lifespan like humans did. What a shame that she was still alive, and nothing was going to change that unless she went back--

 

Lapis shook her head, dispelling the thought. Maps... she had to find the maps. She had to squint to see through the dim light on the ground floor. As she walked, she trailed one hand against the wall to keep herself oriented. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if the diamond authority really  _ was _ in here? Maybe they were planning an attack. Maybe they were behind her right now, just waiting for her to turn around--

 

Lapis whirled around, hearing a cough. “Who goes there?” she shouted, before clapping her hands over her mouth.  _ Fuck _ , if the diamonds were here--! Lapis extended her water wings and bent her knees, ready to fly.

 

Wait, no. It was just a very small thing. Animal? Gem? She couldn’t tell from this distance. Her whole body was still tense from the scare. Forcing herself to drop the wings, Lapis approached the thing. “Hello?” she called out, going down a list in her mind of things it could be.  _ A distraction. A diamond’s pet. A bomb. A trap. A...  _ human?

 

As she approached the corner of the room, she could make out the details of his silhouette splayed across the ground. He had a long cape-like thing, and cloth covering the lower half of his face. His eyes were obscured by a pair of goggles, and his hands were loosely holding a gun, but trembling so hard that he couldn’t have pulled the trigger if he tried.

 

Lapis relaxed. Finally, something that couldn’t hurt her. Still, she stood several feet away, keeping her distance from the human. “What  _ are _ you?”

 

She’d meant to say ‘who are you’, but what was the difference, really, when it came down to it?

 

His breathing was ragged. The human gripped the gun silently for several more seconds, then dropped it with a sigh. “I-” he began, his voice alarmingly raspy. “I’m a traveller. I got... stranded... here...”

 

Lapis furrowed her brow. “How?’

 

“That’s... not... important......” he whispered, struggling through every breath. “Can you... help?”

 

She took a step backwards. “ _ Help _ ?”

A strange feeling twisted through her gut. A total stranger was lying at her feet, and the first thing he thought was that she might  _ help  _ him? Maybe all humans really were as naive as Steven. Not that she was trying to hurt him, but... but she had no idea what she was doing!

 

“How?” she finally answered.

 

He reached slowly up to the cloth and pulled it down, revealing a mouth with lips so dry they were white with peeled skin. “W...water.”

 

Huh? What did he need  _ water _ for? Was he a gem in disguise? Maybe one with water manipulation powers? Or... Lapis thought back to all the human things Steven did. She  _ had _ seen him getting water all the time and pouring it into his mouth. Maybe it had an important biological function.

 

Lapis summoned some of the water that was floating out around the barn into her hand, and poured it into the man’s mouth. “Like that?”

 

He closed his mouth, closing his eyes for a moment. “Thank you.” His voice sounded much less raspy.

 

“I have more...?” Lapis ventured.

 

He nodded, opening his mouth. She poured more water into it, and he spent a minute drinking it down. When he was finished, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand, and started to push himself into a sitting position. Halfway through, he winced and sank back to the floor with a wheeze.

 

Lapis came closer to him, offering a hand to help him up. He grabbed it, and she was shaken by how weak he felt to the touch. His whole body trembled as he dragged himself into a sitting position.

 

Lapis sat down across from him, letting go of his hand. “How did you get here?”

 

He took off his goggles, revealing deep brown eyes, and ran a hand through his hair. “I was attacked. They left me for dead on this godforsaken planet, but I managed to crawl in here, where there’s somehow an atmosphere.” He takes a deep breath. “I’ve learned not to question it, by this point. Some buildings generate their own atmospheres specifically tailored to the needs of humans! That makes complete sense!”

 

He smiles humorlessly. “Sorry. I’m not used to company.”

 

Lapis hugs her knees to her chest. “Me neither.”

 

He gives her an unreadable look. “How did  _ you _ get here? Is this your planetary base?”

 

Lapis smiles a humorless smile that matches his. “No. This is a moon, not a planet. This is my worst enemy’s base. I just stopped here on my way home.”

 

The man raises his eyebrows. “Enemy base? Are they here?”

 

“No,” Lapis says quickly, before she can start to doubt her own answer. “Not yet.”

 

He nods, relaxing. “I know I took some of your water supply already, but do you happen to have any food?”

 

“Food?” Lapis says blankly. “Oh, you mean the things you put in your mouth all the time?”

 

He laughs through his nose. “Of course you wouldn’t,” he says more to himself than anyone else.

 

“No, I’m not saying that! I can check.” Lapis extends her wings and flies away. “There might be something in the barn.”

 

She had to admit, it felt good to talk to someone else. Even if she  _ was _ only stopping by for a second.

 

A few minutes later, she flew back into the moon base with a handful of things that looked like food, and dropped them at the man’s feet.

 

He inhaled sharply, eyes snapping open. “Huh?” 

 

Oh, he’d been sleeping. “Maybe one of these is food?” she explained.

 

He looked down at the pile. “Um... thank you.”

 

He dug a granola bar out from between a lamp and a remote control, and peeled it open. As he bit down, his eyes looked like they had stars in them. “This tastes like my home planet’s food!”

 

“Earth?”

 

He gave her an odd look. “...yes. You know that place?”

 

“Know it? I’ve been trapped there for--” Lapis stopped in her tracks. Why was she telling all this to a stranger? “Yeah, I know it.”

 

The man suddenly straightened. “Is this place Earth’s moon??”

“Yeah.” Lapis didn’t like his tone. If he was excited, then boy did she have some bad news for him.

 

The man tried to stand up, then thought better of it. The excitement drained from his face. “I can’t go outside anyway. There’s no atmosphere.”

 

“Why would you want to go outside?”

 

“Uh.” he looked distant. “Just to look at Earth. There’s a thousand different places called Earth, I’ve found. But every time, I can’t help but think it might be... might finally be the one I came from.”

 

“Oh.” Lapis went quiet. “Earth is your home?”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

“I’m...” Lapis sat down again, idly picking up a screwdriver and pressing the buttons back and forth. “I’m trying to get home, too.”

 

“Where are you from?”

 

“Homeworld. It’s where I was made. I haven’t been there in millions of years.”

 

“ _ Millions?” _

 

“Yeah.” Lapis looks up at him, smirking. “Do humans on your Earth only live a hundred years, too?”

 

He snorts. “Sometimes less than that. It’s ridiculous, after meeting so many aliens who have conditional immortality.” He pauses. “I’ve been out here for a decade, give or take two years.”

 

They’re quiet. What is there to say? Lapis sets down the screwdriver, and rests her head in her hands. “That’s a long time for a human, isn’t it?”

 

He takes another bite of the granola bar, and takes his time chewing on it. He looks like he almost doesn’t want to answer. He looks like she imagines  _ she _ would, if she was looking in a mirror. At last, he nods, swallowing the bite of granola bar. “It is.” 

 

The man catches her eye by accident, and quickly looks away at the floor. She does the same. They sit in silence, but neither of them is uncomfortable. At least, not because of each other.

 

“I miss him.”

 

Lapis looks back at him. She’s about to ask who he’s talking about, but then registers his expression, and decides against it. “I miss my friends,” she says instead.

 

“On homeworld?”

 

She hesitates. She isn’t going back to homeworld at all. How did she forget that? And what friends  _ did _ she mean? Gems didn’t have  _ friends _ . At least, they didn’t have friends on homeworld...

 

“No,” she replies, and leaves it at that.

 

He nods, like he knows what she means, somehow.

 

She doesn’t really feel like talking, but she doesn’t want to abandon him when he looks like shit. She doesn’t know  _ why _ she doesn’t abandon him, literal gem garbage person that she is, but she doesn’t. Maybe she’s selfish. Maybe she’d rather die if it means having company than run away and be safe.

 

It doesn’t matter why, in the end. She stays, and he apparently feels like talking, because he slowly opens up about everything he’s done and everywhere he’s gone. About who he’s fighting, and why he’s doing this.

 

“I almost asked you to take me down there, if there was a way. Down to Earth.” His voice isn’t raspy at all, but it still carries a weight in it. “But then I realized, even if this  _ is _ my Earth, I wouldn’t be safe.”

 

_ Oh thank the stars, _ Lapis thinks. She didn’t know what she would’ve said if he’d asked her to take him to Earth. She sure as hell didn’t want to think about the diamond authority right now, let alone explain the whole situation to this not-quite-stranger.

 

He kept talking, in a mumbly voice that reminded her of when Steven stayed up late with her to go stargazing. “I have to save the universe. I... I don’t  _ have _ to, but what else am I supposed to do? Let Bill keep going? Screw ‘em. He ruined my life. I have to return the favor.”

 

Lapis finds herself smiling bitterly. Man, if only she could find that courage when it came to the diamonds. If only she had the  _ ability  _ to even  _ dream _ about doing something like that. This human was either really powerful, or really stupid. In her experience, humans were a little bit of both. 

 

He kept going in the same slow, mellow tone. “Part of me really wants to stay. Is that selfish?”

 

After a pause, Lapis realized it wasn’t a rhetorical question. She grinned bitterly. “Yeah, but who cares? I’m running away from all my friends, and... and Peridot... but that didn’t stop me.”

 

He looks like he’s going to ask her more questions, and she dreads it. She absolutely dreads the questions, and the sympathetic nods, and the unsolicited advice, but just as she’s about to turn away and tell him she doesn’t feel like talking, he asks her something completely different instead.

 

“What’s your name?” he says quickly. He sounds genuinely curious, which is nice.

 

She decides to tell him. “Lapis Lazuli.”

 

He smiles. “Ah, like the gemstone. That’s a beautiful name.”

 

She doesn’t know what to think of that. Every gem like her is named Lapis, back on homeworld. To think that a name is beautiful would be silly. But then again, humans  _ are _ silly. 

 

“I’m...” he starts to talk, then hesitates. “I’m Ford. Don’t tell anyone you saw me, please. There’s a lot of people out to get me.”

 

Ford. She didn’t know what the name meant, but she liked it. It meant  _ him _ , the man who was willing to sit with her without asking her probing questions. The man who was also lost, and could never go home. “Of course not,” she said with some warmth in her voice. “I’ll keep your secret...” She doesn’t take the time to pause and think about what she’s saying next, otherwise she might not have said it. “...if you’ll keep mine.”

 

His face transforms. A spark comes into his eyes, so they don’t look so defeated, and a curious smile creeps onto his lips. “And what’s that?”

 

“I think I want to try fusion.” She says it in a whisper. After all this time, she’s still ashamed by the thought. She still gets a little bit shaky just thinking about it. She’s so  _ weak _ . But what she said is the truth.

 

A look of confusion crosses his face. “Fusion?”

 

“Oh, um. It’s a thing gems do with each other. Like human kissing? Or dancing?”

 

“Oh.” Ford nods. “I have a secret like that too.”

 

Lapis looks off into the distance. “She’s really funny, and sweet, and I’m so scared that the diamonds are gonna destroy everything, but she wouldn’t run away with me.”

 

Ford’s eyes light up. “It’s a she?” 

 

Lapis doesn’t know why that would matter, but she nods. “I really miss her. But I can’t go back there.”

 

Ford’s smile turns into a bit of a grimace. “I... I like someone like that. But it’s a he. He’s so smart, and... I fucked things up between us. I don’t even know if he  _ likes _ men... like that... but it doesn’t matter now.”

 

Lapis gives him a sad look, and reaches out to touch his hand. “I guess we’re in the same boat.”

 

Ford shrugs. “Well, it’s been nice talking. I shouldn’t stay. People might-”

 

A loud, shrill beep rings out from nearby. Lapis leaps into the air and flies upwards several feet, ready to flee. Ford gasps, pulling his goggles over his face. As he moves his wrist, a flashing device is revealed. “ _ They left a tracker on me-- _ ” he starts to exclaim, before he vanishes with an ear-shattering crackle and a flash of light.

 

And then he’s gone. Lapis stays hovering in the air, staring at where he used to be. The last words he said ring in her ears. He sounded so paralyzed, so hopeless, so  _ afraid _ . Was he dead? Was he carrying some kind of warp pad on his wrist that she could’ve ridden with him if they’d had just a few more seconds to think it through?

 

Something horrible twisted in Lapis’s gut. Either way, she didn’t want to think about it. But she couldn’t  _ not _ . It was  _ right there _ . He’d been  _ right there. _

 

Dropping to the floor, Lapis let the weight of the situation crash down on her. She let the horror, and the fear that had been building up inside for months, come pouring out in sobs that wracked her whole body.

 

Some time later, she looked up, remembering her surroundings. She felt... better. Not  _ good _ , but better.

 

Lapis didn’t feel like flying right now. She couldn’t even remember what she’d come here for. Maybe she’d remember if she just... oh, what _ ever _ . She didn’t  _ want _ to remember. This whole day was  _ bullshit _ . If the diamond authority showed up and shattered her on the spot, she’d be  _ glad _ . Fuck everything.

 

Letting the anger give her a little boost of energy, Lapis stood up. She walked up the huge spiral staircase that was designed for gems ten times her size. And then she reached the main control room.

 

_ Ugh, I hate this place. _ She could hardly bear to look at the throne where diamonds no doubt sat while they waged their war against earth. But there was some old technology in here... maybe that was what she’d come in here for.

 

Lapis spotted a device for viewing Earth remotely, and picked it up. These things were so primitive, they didn’t even  _ have _ a tracking device. There was no way the diamond authority would be notified that she was touching their stuff. 

 

_ There. That’s  _ one  _ silver lining here. _ Lapis rolled her eyes at herself. As if it mattered.

 

Twisting the coordinates around, Lapis wondered where she could look. Maybe it would show her directions to the nearest planet? No, she had to go further away than that. For all she knew, the diamonds would destroy this whole  _ galaxy. _

 

Trees rushed through her vision, and suddenly Lapis was in Beach City. Huh. She must’ve gone there on instinct. But before she could move on to somewhere less painful, she spotted Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot walking together through the trees. Her whole body tensed.

 

“Peridot...” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

 

She had to go back down there. She had to apologize. Peridot looked so  _ happy _ without her, though. She was laughing at some joke Steven had made. 

 

Lapis sighed. No. She’d go back tomorrow, maybe, but not today. Right now she was just too exhausted. She could wait here for a little bit, couldn't she? She could let herself watch from afar, without having to worry about the apology, and the diamonds, and anything else was could happen in the near future?

 

Of course she could. Even if it was stupid, or ended up being deadly, she didn’t care. 

 

Lapis laid on the ground, letting herself stare up at Earth’s sky from the view of the projector.

 

Ford would’ve liked this.


End file.
